#nova bubbles!

We see her one of two ways in the series, both canon and non canon:

Serenely peaceful, even in situations where one would expect her to be rattled;

Or something ranging from confident focus to righteous fury. (Tekken Tag Tournament 2 was the first game to show us more of an almost frightening seriousness to her and her fighting!)

So when a character that symbolizes hope, and good, and even stubborn unwillingness to give up says something like this:

It makes us as readers wonder what’s happened? What’s gone so horribly wrong that the universe’s potential purest source of hope looks almost devoid of all emotion?

And then we see it. Then we learn what’s been going on, and why Angel’s here:

She’s here as a pawn. She’s here for Heihachi’s own desires, to be exact.

(By this point in the issue, Angel’s been referred to as a multitude of things: a mistake, an associate, and a prize- none of which give her the respect that a being like her is deserving of, especially considering her position and level of power in the universe. These put her in the “object” category- which is almost strange for someone who Jin says is “the only being alive who can cure the Devil Gene.”)

But before anyone can stop him, Heihachi initiates what we discover to be a power transfer from Angel to him.

And it hurts.

Even later, after Angel ends the power transfer on account of Heihachi’s (justified) unworthiness, he continues the “dehumanization-“ reminding her:

“Unworthy? I’m worth ten of you. Twenty.”

It’s only after she shocks Jin away from touching her that we hear what she’s been through under him; she talks about having her “wings clipped,” and being “locked in a cage,” both of which she describes as “torture” and “indignity” when all she wanted to do was.. Free Kazuya.

What I think might say more about how she’s been treated is what she isn’t saying- especially when it comes to her time under Heihachi.

We know Jin’s motives were to find some way to rid himself of the Devil Gene- and Angel represents an opportunity to achieve what he’s needed

But Heihachi has no need for her. He has no reason to hold on to her beyond what he desires. He has no reason to treat her as anything better than an object.

And if Heihachi- who already values her as an object- is willing to commit the almost sacrilegious act of wielding her power by force, then it makes us wonder what else he was willing to put her through in order to reach that point.

What other lines would he have crossed had they not gotten there in time?